HOW BENINS WORSHIP GOD TRADITIONALLY.

Departed ancestors and “the Head” are worshipped in Benin Kingdom, just as the Benin people believe in the concept of the guardian spirit. The departed ancestors may be parents, heroes, heroines, chiefs or Obas.

The belief within the Benin cosmos is that the departed ancestors are still living members of the extended family. An art/cultural historian, High Priest OsemwegieEbohon, in his article entitled “1400 Years of Benin Kingdom: From the Ogisosto Oba Erediauwa”, noted that death only physically separates the dead from theliving. The belief in life in the hereafter or life after death is not justwidespread among the people but is engraved in the deepest part of theirthought. This may partly be the reason Ebohon noted that even after physicaldeath the people still maintain links with the departed. “Spiritually, they arestill communing with members of their families here on earth,” he wrote.

According to Ebohon, these ancestors live in the spirit world, Eguae Osanobua-Eguaosa, with God and have God’s ears. “Therefore, it is wise to pray through them toGod for assistance in the arduous journey through life. In fact, theseancestors are even deified. They are consulted daily, routinely or duringimportant occasions and sacrifices are offered to them for such life-makingassistance,” he added. Whether it is daily, routinely or on special occasions,the traditional diviner is said to be always at hand to find out the wishes,orders, pleas, moods and emotional feelings of ancestors on request. “No Biniignores these because the ancestors by fiat can cause pain, illness, poverty,impotence, insanity, infertility, childlessness, accidents, poor crop yieldsand even death for any transgression against them.

“The power, influence and authority of the ancestors are never ridiculed, questioned or challenged by the Binis in secret or in public,” Ebohon stated. To thetraditional Benin, it is considered a sacrilege to go contrary to this deeplyheld belief. How then does the traditional Benin commune with their ancestors?“Homage is paid to the ancestors at meal or drinking times by descendants throughthe ritual practice of throwing food pieces and pouring libation to them beforethe first bite or drink is taken. It is a rule that the ancestors must eat and,or drink first before living descendant,” Ebohon explained. Homage-paying isnot an all-male affair. The females, too, are involved. The art/culturalhistorian said: “Females that have lost their parents or any of their parentscould give libation to their immediate ancestors.”

There are three platforms for the worship of ancestors in Benin Kingdom. Ebohon identified these platforms as the family altar, the palace altar and thecommunal altar. The family altar is where the eldest surviving male child, aschief priest, prays and intercedes on behalf of the family members to hisdeparted father. The palace altar (or altars) is where a reigning Oba worshipshis departed Obas. A communal altar, as the name suggests, belongs to thecommunity and it is where departed great elders in the community arecollectively worshipped during certain festivals. At the community level, theOdionwere (eldest male) leads the worship. Similarly, Benin people regard thehuman head as more than a biological entity. To them, as Ebohon puts it, thehuman head is an altar through which God can be worshipped for conferring successon a person in life or for approaching God to get His blessings. “Success inlife, among the Binis, is interpreted to mean that one has a good steeringcompass in the head. So, the Binis say you have a good head (Uhunnoma).”

The annual Ugie festival, usually celebrated every December, is said to incorporate head worship for the Oba, the royal family, palace chiefs and all sons and daughtersof Benin Kingdom. It is also said that ancestral worship has a segment that isdevoted to head worship. Ebohon further explained that to celebrate headworship as a religious practice, Benin people had a special commemorative headcarving called “Uhunmwan Elao” kept in ancestral altars. Besides, he said therewas an ancestral wooden staff of authority known as “Ukhurhe” with a carvedhuman head on it, which is equally placed on the altars. Sometimes, accordingto him, there are rectangular bells (Eroro) with metallic human head found onthese altars.

Belief in the existence of a guardian spirit among the Benin people is very common. They call the guardian spirit Ehi. Ebohon stated: “It is Ehi’s responsibility tohelp one’s head pilot a person through life. In other words, Ehi or theguardian spirit is a form of helper. Its mandate is to give support to a personso as to enable him achieve his destiny on earth, already chosen in the spiritworld with God and the guardian spirit in attendance. Invariably, the Beninsbelieve that the person in the spirit world chooses a person’s station in life.“Therefore, on earth, he cannot rewrite his destiny, part of which determinesthe day, week and month on or in which he is born; or the family andgeographical location into which or within which he is born. To explain thisfact, the Benins have a saying: “Aise Agbon ri Oba, erinmwin a ke rioe re”. Itmeans one cannot just become a king on earth unless one is ordained from thespirit world.” The guardian spirit, Ebohon continued, is propitiated throughthe medium of head worship while an Oba of Benin normally appointed a chief tobe in charge of his Ehi (Ehi Oba). The duty of the chief, it is said, is toundertake the worship of the Oba’s Ehi the Oba’s behalf. The Benin names, whichare said to celebrate this factor of Ehi, include Ehiosuomwan, Ehimwenma,Ehigiamusoe, Obehi, Ehigbokan, Ehimua, Ehiogie (Ehigie), Ehigiegba,Ehizogie andEhimanmiogho.